Crisis Cartography - AAG 2013
by andrew turner

During a crisis people use the tools that are available and ideally familiar. This often means repurposing in a way that was never intended but yields innovative new applications. For example during Hurricane Katrina people caught in New Orleans could not call 911 or other emergency numbers. Instead they would text their family members in remote states such as Michigan who would then call back down to Red Cross with the address of the person that was stuck in the flooding. By contrast typical mapping and analysis would take days to gather data such as shelter locations, flood modeling inundation zones and finally the proposed response. With people knee deep in water this restricted and limited capability had demonstrable and severe impact on the efficacy of the response.

Subsequent disasters demonstrated the effective repurposing and development of cartographic tools such as the New York Public Library historic map warper to instead rectify un-classified CIA maps of Haiti that were used to derive road networks in OpenStreetMap. Then using consumer-grade hiking GPS units this data was made available to search and rescue teams from Virginia to find the locations of trapped individuals. What had been designed for researchers and public volunteers provided an easy to use, on-demand, and flexible mapping interface for people around the world to provide overnight support to responders that were deploying on the ground.

During a crisis people use the tools that are available and ideally familiar. This often means repurposing in a way that was never intended but yields innovative new applications. For example during Hurricane Katrina people caught in New Orleans could not call 911 or other emergency numbers. Instead they would text their family members in remote states such as Michigan who would then call back down to Red Cross with the address of the person that was stuck in the flooding. By contrast typical mapping and analysis would take days to gather data such as shelter locations, flood modeling inundation zones and finally the proposed response. With people knee deep in water this restricted and limited capability had demonstrable and severe impact on the efficacy of the response.

Subsequent disasters demonstrated the effective repurposing and development of cartographic tools such as the New York Public Library historic map warper to instead rectify un-classified CIA maps of Haiti that were used to derive road networks in OpenStreetMap. Then using consumer-grade hiking GPS units this data was made available to search and rescue teams from Virginia to find the locations of trapped individuals. What had been designed for researchers and public volunteers provided an easy to use, on-demand, and flexible mapping interface for people around the world to provide overnight support to responders that were deploying on the ground. continued…

first published week of:   05/27/2013

DARPA takes multipronged approach to securing military's cloud
by  kathleen hickey

The core of the Defense Department’s plans to reduce its 1,500 data centers to “a number far below that” is implementing a secure, coherent and consistent computer cloud network architecture, said DOD principal deputy chief information officer Robert J. Carey at a recent cloud computing panel discussion.

While saving money is one reason for these changes, securing data is the most important factor.

“The access, the cost — all those facets of the efficiency of cloud computing — if it isn’t secure enough, it will not serve us well,” Carey said, according to a DOD report.

Details Here

first published week of:   01/21/2013

Deval Patrick Changes Course, Abandons Tech Tax
by govtech.com

Heeding cries from the technology community, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick announced Tuesday, Sept. 11, that he has withdrawn his support for a controversial tax on technology-related services, according to a report in The Boston Globe.

Originally proposed by Patrick in January as a way to fund improvements to the state's decaying transportation infrastructure, the tax was subsequently passed by the state legislature. It would attach a 6.25 percent sales tax to things like software modifications, program configuration and website development.

“It’s time for it to go,” Patrick told the Globe. “I’m persuaded that the impact to our reputation is too problematic. We’ve worked really, really hard to establish ourselves as an innovation hub in the world, and we ought not do anything that compromises that.” continued…

first published week of:   09/16/2013

DHS taps BAE Systems for geospatial imagery and analysis

The Homeland Security Department is looking to improve geospatial imagery and analysis to support emergency management and security planning for special events.

DHS’ Geospatial Management Office has selected BAE Systems to provide geospatial imagery for real-time intelligence as part of DHS’ Remote Sensing Services to Support Incident Management and Homeland Security contract, according to a company release. BAE Systems is one of four prime contractors in the $50 million, five-year IDIQ contract.

BAE Systems’ intelligence experts will use geospatial data and airborne imagery to produce high-resolution maps that reflect current environmental conditions, BAE officials said. The data will be used to produce real-time intelligence products to support a variety of DHS missions, including emergency management of natural and man-made disasters, and possibly security planning for special events. The geospatial intelligence products might also be used to assist public safety and law enforcement with tactical planning and incident response.

As part of the contract, BAE Systems’ supported the Federal Emergency Management Agency in its response to the tornadoes in Oklahoma. BAE provided high-resolution, color imagery along the entire path of destruction -- information that is critical to the recovery and cleanup efforts, a BAE official said. continued…

first published week of:   06/17/2013

DOD strategy review paints bleak outlook
by amber corrin

In a July 31 press briefing discussing findings of a recent comprehensive strategy review, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel underscored the tough choices Pentagon decision-makers face amid cuts that could reach nearly $1 trillion.

Hagel, accompanied by Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Adm. James Winnefeld, said that the sweeping strategic choices and management review he directed earlier this year examined three central scenarios, and that all of them fell short of savings targets.

"To help DOD balance strategic ends, ways and means under these budget scenarios, the Strategic Choices and Management Review scrutinized every aspect of DOD's budget, including: contingency planning, business practices, force structure, pay and benefits, acquisition practices, and modernization portfolios," Hagel said. "Everything was on the table." continued…

first published week of:   08/05/2013

DOD unlikely to cancel contracts for savings
by matthew weigelt

Defense Department Controller Robert Hale said Feb. 20 he does not foresee DOD canceling contracts if sequestration takes effect. Instead, DOD is more likely to deal with budget pressures by declining to pick up contracts' option periods and simply not awarding new contracts.

“I would like to say, to reassure them, if you've got a contract with us, we're going to pay you,” Hale said. Even under sequestration and with employees taking furloughs, he added, DOD will keep making payments on time.

Details Here

first published week of:   02/25/2013

Does the HealthCare.gov Launch Make the Case for Open Source?
by jason shueh

The IT troubles of HealthCare.gov have baffled the public. After all, the U.S. government has had access to industry experts from the start and, as of Oct. 30, has spent more than $174 million on the site, according to testimony from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

As that figure grows, many may find themselves questioning why and how a site with so much support could have faltered so profoundly. New reports from The Washington Post indicate that the site is still unlikely to be fully operational by the end of November, the White House’s second self-imposed deadline for the site.

Among experts offering potential remedies is Scott Chacon, co-founder and CIO of Github, an open source code-hosting site supporting developer collaboration.

In a Venture Beat article, Chacon speculated that open source code could have saved HealthCare.gov — and could do the same for many other government IT headaches.

“I would personally like to see the government default be open source,” he said.

The statement is notable, in that “default,” as the word implies, would mean the federal government wouldn’t just dabble in open source as it has done in the past, but fully embrace open source solutions as its first choice for all IT projects.

Bolstering his argument for open source, Chacon cited a variety of advantages, but pointed to security and collaboration as top arguments for change. Below are some reasons, from Chacon and others, why open source code could be the next big policy upgrade in government IT. continued…

first published week of:   11/18/2013

Does this Tweet-based map of Seattle accurately describe your neighborhood?

This is pretty cool. Microsoft researcher Andrés Monroy-Hernández, an expert in social media analysis, has come up with an interesting way to view Seattle. (One we’ve never quite seen before).

Think of it as the citywide Tweet map — in the style of the popular Ork Posters.  The map was created using Twitter data over a two month period, so for example you can see that words such as “coffee” and “weekend” are associated with Capitol Hill or “Seattle PD” and “apple” are associated with the U. District.

“The (map) is definitely biased towards volume. So the loudest is the most visible, which is part of the provocation,” says Monroy-Hernández in a Tweet to describing the map.

Details Here

first published week of:   03/11/2013

Enhancing Public Access to Legal Data
by brian heaton

In a few years, simplified case summaries, judicial opinions and audio recordings from all federal appellate and state supreme courts could be accessible at the touch of a button.

The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law will spearhead the effort, aggregating documents and media from courts in California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas. The information will be reformatted and republished online following open practice standards.

Once the project is complete, content will be more accessible to non-legal audiences, including journalists and the general public. The remainder of state supreme and federal appellate courts in the U.S. will receive a similar treatment over the next five years provided additional funding is raised. The audio recordings and digital content will be available through individual websites for each court and a mobile app.

Helping to fund the work is a $600,000 prize that the Oyez Project received as a winner of the Knight News Challenge on Open Gov, sponsored by the Knight Foundation. The foundation works to promote media innovation by funding innovative ideas in news and information. continued…

first published week of:   07/22/2013

Expert calls for rapid social media response from emergency services
by jennifer germano

Cutting-edge mapping technology that lets overseas emergency organizations use social media to build natural disaster intelligence should be adopted in Australia, according to the former Director of Volunteer Services for Queensland’s 36,000 volunteer fire fighters.

New Geographic Information System (GIS) technology from geospatial giant Esri Australia, can now map geo-located text, photos and videos that have been uploaded by disaster eyewitnesses to social-media platforms like Twitter and YouTube.

International emergency services are using this information to enhance their own intelligence and develop a more detailed understanding of the situation on the ground during a crisis.

The approach has helped guide rescue teams during the Japan Tsunami and in the US during Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina and the recent Oklahoma twister. continued…

first published week of:   06/03/2013